


Riddles

by supercantaloupe



Series: d20 alphabet 2021 [1]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), Fantasy High
Genre: Campaign 01 Season 02: Fantasy High Sophomore Year (Dimension 20), Childhood Memories, Confusion, Dreams vs. Reality, Fantasy High Sophomore Year Spoilers (Dimension 20), Gen, Memories, Psychological Trauma, Riddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29643627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercantaloupe/pseuds/supercantaloupe
Summary: Aelwyn’s mind, or what’s left of it.
Series: d20 alphabet 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178252
Kudos: 6
Collections: Dimension 20 Alphabet 2021





	Riddles

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt, day 1: Alone.
> 
> Set in the first half of the season, leading to the end of s2e10.

In elementary school, the teacher used to write a new riddle on the board every morning. Any student who could figure it out by the end of day would get a star sticker next to their name on a colorful poster on the wall.

_What gets wetter as it dries? A towel._

Aelwyn’s column was filled every month, no gaps in between. She’s always been peerless.

_What is full of holes but still holds water? A sponge._

She runs her finger down the row of stickers on that poster. She can’t remember why they’re there. The label on the top has long since been burned away.

_What is no sooner spoken than broken? Silence._

The walls don’t shake and rumble anymore here like they used to, but she doesn’t know how long it’s been since the last booms went off. They could come back at any moment now. She feels the light filtering through haze on the back of her neck from above, where there used to be roof.

_What can you keep after giving to someone? Your word._

Walls all over this place have cracked and crumbled to pieces. Great towering libraries and studies once filled with shelves stocked high with knowledge and treasure. It’s all long since been looted, or laid to waste. She can’t get to it now, not that she’d have any use for it anymore. 

_What can you break, even if you never touch it? A promise._

The chart on the wall is full. There are no more star stickers in this damned place. There hasn’t been for a long time.

_What gets bigger the more is taken away? A hole._

There’s some funny things about this place. When you walk around (if you walk around; if you’re strong enough to), you never quite find what you’re looking for. Even when you tear down the walls to make way, the maze remains, hiding something within its twists and turns.

_The more you take, the more you leave behind; what are they? Footsteps._

It is so easy to be lost here. Not that there’s anybody else to get lost here. They’ve long since stopped coming. Or maybe they haven’t, it’s hard to say. You can tell when they’re there, though. You can hear them in the streets, looking for something.

_What can’t talk but replies when spoken to? An echo._

How long has she been here? Who knows? Maybe she’s always been here and never noticed. Maybe it didn’t always look like this, but who can tell? Maybe those star stickers have always been there, maybe that poster never had a label. 

_If you’ve got me, you want to share me; if you share me, you haven’t kept me; what am I? A secret._

It takes Aelwyn a long, long time to figure these answers out, and they’re gone again so quickly after. Still, it’s something to do here, as she sits against the crumbled walls and runs her fingers along the star stickers. There’s no use in going out there anymore, anyway; she’s tried. There’s nothing for her to find, and no way she’ll show anybody else.

_What is always in front of you but can never be seen? The future._

It’s quiet here, most of the time. You can tell when it isn’t. There are sounds in the street. Someone else is here. It’s been a long time (or maybe it hasn’t). Aelwyn brings her knees to her chest and covers her head with her arms, and waits for the next end of the world.

**Author's Note:**

> would you look at that, i CAN write short things! who knew?
> 
> rebloggable [here,](https://supercantaloupe.tumblr.com/post/643855535999959040/dimension20alphabet-prompt-fill-1-alone-title) prompt list [here.](https://dimension20alphabet.tumblr.com/post/643573819181776896/prompt-masterlist) thank you for reading! <3


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